In apparatuses of this kind it has been common practice that the clamps, in which the operators should insert the flatwork article, have been positioned fairly high, for instance in level with the face of the operator. This positioning was of course a natural consequence of the fact that the flatwork article, while it is being spread in front of the front edge of the conveyor belt, should hang down freely in order to avoid folds, when the flatwork article is transferred to the conveyor belt, the rail means, along which the carriages move, extending horizontally in front of the conveyor belt. An apparatus is known, in which the flatwork articles are not directly inserted in the clamps holding the flatwork article while it is being spread, but in which the flatwork article is inserted in insertion devices, which after the insertion of the flatwork article transfer it to the clamps on the two carriages. An apparatus of this kind is known from a U.S. Patent assigned to McGraw-Edison. After the transfer to the carriages on the transverse rail means the two carriages are moved symmetrically away from each other for stretching the leading edge of the flatwork article. The rail means is displaceable in the direction of the conveyor belt, and this displacement is used for taking the leading edge of the flatwork article over the front end of the conveyor.
The insertion devices in this known apparatus are designed as clamp panels, which are displaceable or swingable in a horizontal plane and which are provided with two fork-shaped clamps, in which the operator places the flatwork piece. In front of the aparatus there may be three operation stations, the middle one of which displacing the clamp panel along the centre line of the apparatus, and the two ones, which are placed on each side of the central panel, perform a swinging movement towards the centre. As the flatwork articles must hang down freely while being transferred to the clamps on the two carriages, the operators have to lift the flatwork articles approx. to face level, which makes the work of insertion strenous and which also puts a heavy strain on the arms and shoulders of the operator.